Carmakers go back to the future

The new BMW Mini harks back to the 1960s auto icon

If you are keen to discover what kinds of cars US automakers will begin churning out in the next few months, a cheap history book is as much use as expensive industry research.

For "back to the future" seems to be the theme of this year's North American International Auto Show in Detroit, a key event in the carmaker's calendar.

While US auto sales head back to 1990s levels, the cars on display at the show's previews next week will hark back to the 1960s.

Nissan will show its new Z sports car, which is based on the 1969 Datsun 240Z, yet still a year from hitting showrooms.

Ford's stand will on Monday reveal a Thunderbird incorporating features found on 1950s and 1960s models, including round headlamps, porthole windows and a wraparound windscreen.

And BMW will display the new Mini, which is strongly reminiscent of the 1960s auto icon, if 20 inches longer.

New concept

There is even a return to that 1960s US favourite the station wagon - in profile at least.

For the fastest growing sector in the US auto industry belongs to the so-called "crossovers" - vehicles aimed at combining the smooth ride of a car with the space of a sports utility vehicle (SUV).

While the group accounts for only a fraction of total US auto sales at present, crossovers will make up about 15% of all models introduced between 2001 and 2004, researchers at investment bank Merrill Lynch believe.

Crossovers are seen in the industry as a happy medium, providing SUV owners with a more manoeuvrable alternative, yet offering car owners the option of four wheel drive.

An economist at DaimlerChrysler said: "The popularity of these multipurpose vehicles is across all age groups. It draws from every [vehicle] segment."

Restraining costs

The vehicles are, for simple business reasons, popular with automakers too. For crossovers share not only design features with cars and SUVs, but parts too.

Some will even share production lines with related models. In times when some experts are predicting that US car sales will fall by 20% over the next three years, these abilities are invaluable to efforts to keep factory costs down.

But if the crossovers on display at the show, open to the public from 13-21 January, represent hope for the future, the stands themselves are expected to reflect the industry's worries of the present.

At last year's show, General Motors spent more than $50m constructing a two-storey display incorporating a 1,300 seat amphitheatre.

This year no massive new stands are expected. Just old equipment, spruced up for the new millennium.